Science

Doctor Robert Anderson, the fictitious narrator of Poul Anderson's There Will Be Time (New York, 1973), comments:

"...the thermonuclear reactor and associated machines were introduced, and spread widely, while mysticism out of Asia was denying that science could answer the questions that mattered." (p. 144)

Can science answer all the questions that matter? I agree that it is now answering many important questions formerly regarded as beyond its scope, like the origin of life.

Earlier in the novel, Jack Havig, a time traveler, told Anderson:

"'They'll find the molecular basis of heredity, approximately ten years from now.'" (p. 47)

Of course, Anderson wanted to hear more. Although I practice Asian mysticism in the form of Zen meditation, I accept that personalities result from genes and environment, not from rebirth.

According to Plato, Socrates valued and practiced analytic philosophy, abstract reasoning, but thought that natural philosophy, empirical inquiries into the nature of matter, addressed uninteresting and unimportant details of existence. Although I share Socrates' lack of interest in technical details, the history of science and technology proves their importance.

Science explains morality. We help others either because they bear the same genes or because they might help us in return and we experience this motivation as moral obligation, not as calculating self interest. We cooperate because, as social beings, we have collective interests that transcend the selfishness-altruism dichotomy. Speaking a common language and driving on the same side of the road are obvious examples.

However, the moral question, "Should we split the atom?" must precede the scientific question, "Can we split the atom?" Society determines what questions scientists ask. For example, questions about the relative intelligence of social groups arise because society is divided into those groups, which has happened for historical reasons. The trans-Atlantic slave trade changed perceptions of race.

Aldous Huxley quoted Fulke Greville:

"Oh wearisome condition of humanity,
"Born under one law, to another bound;
"Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
"Created sick, commanded to be sound.
"What means nature by these diverse laws?
Passion and reason, self-division's cause." (See here.)

Each of us must face this question individually, with or without help from salvationist religion, whereas scientific answers are publicly accessible, thus not individual. Also, aesthetic questions about the meaning and value of art depend on individual perception and judgment and thus are not susceptible to scientific precision.